B.C. kicking in $25 million to aid school budget shortfallsBack to video

Last year, boards had to cut $29 million from their budgets in administrative expenses through such measures as introducing new bus fees, reducing travel budgets, or not replacing someone who retired, money the province kept. Those cuts were to be followed up with an additional $25 million this year.

“School districts have done an absolutely stellar job. We recognize that and we’ve heard loud and clear from the parents in British Columbia and trustees that instead, let’s throw that money back to school districts,” Bernier said. “Let’s make sure that that money is going to where it’s supposed to be going, which is for the students.”

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School trustees and parents have been crying out for more funding this spring, as districts have grappled with cutting budgets and closing schools.

Vancouver school trustees face a $24-million budget shortfall and the prospect of closing as many as 21 schools, but will now get to spend $2.15 million more than planned. In Surrey, where about 7,000 students go to school in portables due to overcrowding and enrolment keeps growing, the district had a shortfall of $4 million. Surrey will get to keep $3.1 million that it planned to cut from administration.

Other boards in B.C. also reported budget shortfalls, including in Saanich where trustees passed a budget that includes nearly $1 million in “anticipated revenue from government.” They’ve now found about one-third of that money because they will get to keep $330,000 that they planned to cut.

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Provincially, the group Families Against Cuts to Education says 31 districts were reporting a combined shortfall of more than $85 million in their budgets for next year. Adding to the shortfalls across the province are mandatory technology upgrades estimated at $24 million this year, salary increases for non-union staff members, and other cost increases including rising B.C. Hydro rates and MSP premiums, school board officials have said.

Salaries for non-union school district staff have been frozen since 2012, but an increase of two per cent this year has been approved by the province for some administrators. Boards make the decision whether to give these increases and they “must be funded from within school districts’ existing budgets,” according to a B.C. Public School Employers’ Association document.

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Several districts grappled with closing schools to save money and to get necessary seismic upgrades, including Osoyoos, where the town’s only secondary school is slated to close. Osoyoos will get an extra $118,000. It is not known if that will enough to save the school.

“Today’s announcement likely isn’t going to change anything,” said the NDP education critic, Rob Fleming. “It remains to be seen whether any district goes back after giving three readings to a school closure and actually reverses anything. Because it’s not enough money … it’s one time finding and it’s not sustainable so a lot of trustees are going to be very reluctant to trust Christy Clark for this kind of small potatoes money that will not be able to accomplish anything in their school district.”

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Vancouver and Richmond are both considering closing several schools and other districts have already made decisions to close schools, including Summerland and Quesnel.

The West Vancouver school district passed a balanced budget this year, but Julia Leiterman, district secretary-treasurer and CFO, said to achieve that, the district had to be very prudent this year and for several years running, both in terms of generating revenue and cutting expenditures.

“The increases in the Ministry of Education operating grant have never kept pace with inflation and the ongoing cost increases of running a school district,” Leiterman said. “We are pleased that the ministry eliminated the requirement to find the additional $25 million in administrative savings for 2016 today, but as this decision was based on economic performance rather than educational needs, we have a long way to go to make sure students come first.”

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In West Vancouver, the required technology upgrades will cost $307,535, but they will have $284,472 in administrative cuts they no longer have to make.

The $25 million is the second funding announcement in as many months. In March, Bernier announced an extra $28 million, to be taken from holdback funds.

The B.C. School Trustees Association called for an education funding review in a letter to Bernier last month. The letter urged the provincial government to stop funding independent schools and to redirect this funding to the public school system. Association president Teresa Rezansoff said the announcement will help districts address some immediate funding issues, but that it doesn’t solve all of districts’ financial problems.

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“BCSTA — I’m putting you on fair warning here — will continue to seek commitment from government to sustain these funds for future budget years and to make it a permanent addition to the overall K to 12 provincial budget,” Rezansoff said. “The cost pressures felt by school districts are ongoing and we need to work out a way to address them on a long-term basis.”

B.C. Teachers’ Federation president Jim Iker said public pressure for more funding is working.

“The return of this $25 million cut is an important turning point for public education as it shows the government is feeling the pressure one year out from a provincial election,” Iker said. “While the returned funding will not solve the funding crisis facing our schools, it will bring some much needed relief.”

Iker said the pressure needs to continue.

“It’s incumbent upon teachers, parent groups, and school trustees to keep reaching out to government MLAs to ensure they understand the depth of the crisis, and commit to taking more action,” Iker said.

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